DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE (NYSE:GE) and Aluminium of Greece (AOG), a Mytilineos Group
subsidiary, today signed a 10-year agreement in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates, to implement global first-of-their-kind digital smelter
solutions for AOG to enhance its aluminium smelting process and
contribute to increased operational efficiency and productivity.

The digital solutions are a significant step in charting the next
generation of smelting operations globally. The agreement was signed by
Dimitris Stefanidis, CEO of Aluminium of Greece and Joseph Anis,
President & CEO of GE’s Power Services business in the Middle East and
Africa, in the presence of senior officials of both companies in Dubai.

“As the largest vertically integrated bauxite, alumina and aluminium
production and trading unit in the European Union, we are constantly
looking at innovative technologies to enhance our performance standards.
The application of digital industrial solutions is a remarkable
opportunity to achieve process optimization across our operations and to
push productivity levels,” said Dimitris Stefanidis. “With GE’s digital
smelter solutions, we are setting a global first for the aluminium
industry that will contribute to our operational efficiency and set new
benchmarks in the sector.”

Underlining GE’s strong global collaboration, digital strength and
industrial know-how, the digital solutions for smelting operations are
being created by a team of engineers and developers based in San Ramon,
USA; GE Power’s Digital Smelter Center of Excellence (COE) in Dubai,
UAE; and GE’s Global Research Center in Bangalore, India. The project
will be executed by the team based at the COE in Dubai, while the
facility that the solutions will be implemented at is located in Agios
Nikolaos, Viotia, Greece.

“GE has been at the forefront of digitizing the future of industry
globally and in the region, providing digital industrial solutions for
power generation and the LNG industry, among others” said Joseph Anis.
“By bringing together the strengths of our multi-locational teams and GE
Power’s Digital Smelter Center of Excellence in Dubai, we will
collaborate with AOG to create a new chapter in the history of smelting
operations as well.”

GE has supported AOG’s growth and development over the decades, having
supplied it with advanced technologies and signing multi-year agreements
to cover the maintenance of gas turbines and associated generators.

The digital solutions will operate in the cloud, powered by Predix*,
GE’s operating system for the Industrial Internet. Virtual sensors will
facilitate the ongoing evaluation of parameters such as temperature and
chemistry that are not ordinarily monitored continuously. This, in turn,
will help to anticipate the health and condition of the pot, providing
timely monitoring reports on the operations of the plant.

“We will be able to recreate an actual smelter using artificial
intelligence and physics-based models,” stated Bhanu Shekhar, Chief
Digital Officer for GE Power in the Middle East and Africa. “This is a
living digital model that will continuously generate smelter data, and
will be a game changer in helping to address the challenges of power
usage and the consumption of raw materials in the smelting industry.”

GE’s digital solutions for aluminium smelting can help unlock a new era
of productivity for this critical industry in Europe, the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) and beyond. A one percent increase in
efficiency of aluminium smelter operations can contribute to an annual
global savings of US$970 million across the total cost of production,
US$936 million in output increase, and US$464 million in operations and
maintenance costs. In the GCC region alone, the same one percent
increase translates into US$28 million in savings on operations and
maintenance. Today, the region’s aluminium smelting industry accounts
for up to ten percent of the world’s total production, and GE has a
strong history of leadership in the sector to enhance competitiveness,
efficiency and sustainability for customers.

About Mytilineos Group:

Mytilineos Group is a leading Greek industry active in Metallurgy &
Mines, Energy and EPC Projects. Established in Greece in 1990, the
Group’s holding company, MYTILINEOS HOLDINGS S.A., is listed on the
Athens Exchange, has a consolidated turnover in excess of €1.3 billion
and employs directly or indirectly more than 2,700 people in Greece and
abroad. www.mytilineos.gr

About GE:

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming
industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are
connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global
exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business
shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and
intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application
across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and
scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the
language of industry. www.ge.com

About GE Power:

GE Power is a world leader in power generation with deep domain
expertise to help customers deliver electricity from a wide spectrum of
fuel sources. We are transforming the electricity industry with the
digital power plant, the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine,
full balance of plant, upgrade and service solutions as well as our
data-leveraging software. Our innovative technologies and digital
offerings help make power more affordable, reliable, accessible and
sustainable. www.gepower.com.
Follow us on Twitter @GE_Power.